To those left behind
by Chev 7
Summary: After finally being released from Carbonite, the Emperor's Wrath writes a letter to Vette. He knows that the odds of her somehow getting the letter are impossible but hope is sometimes all that is left. Continuing this and I guess it can now be considered AU
1. Chapter 1

_It's been five years and still I dream of you Vette._

Where once I fought against the forces of the Galactic Republic and other factions that sought to challenge the Sith Empire, I now find myself fighting against the Eternal Empire, a powerful new force that in the five years I spent in carbonite has managed to bring both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire to their knees.

When I first woke up after spending five years in a block of stone I thought for sure my crew had managed to locate me, that the first face I would see was yours. But I was wrong. Instead it was Lana Beniko who managed to awaken me from my carbonite sleep. It took a while but we managed to escape from Zakuul and from the Eternal Empire if only for a little while. All the while I tried to find you, tried to see if you had managed to track me down only to see that it wasn't meant to be.

Over the past few weeks a group of others who had had enough of the Eternal Empire managed to form a resistance movement and for some reason they saw fit to appoint me as the Commander of all of our forces. For a brief moment, I forgot about the pain of losing you and I was ashamed. I pledged to love you and be true to you forever and for a moment I wasn't. For a moment the pain and shame almost overwhelmed me.

The hardest part was when they found the _Fury_. I thought for sure it had been destroyed in battle against the Eternal Empire. I thought maybe just for a moment you would be waiting for me as I climbed up the ramp.

I was wrong.

The pain almost overwhelmed me again as I walked around the ship. I remembered our first kiss in the cargo bay, watching the stars go by as streaks of light as the _Fury_ tore through hyperspace. And of our room, where we would simply lay against one another and listen to each others heartbeat as we traveled through hyperspace.

The most difficult part of the whole experience was seeing the datapad you left on our bed. I remember feeling the tears streak down my face as I read the last letter you composed but never sent.

 _It's been almost a year since I last saw you outside of a dream. Every day, I have the same question. How did it end ? Were there a hundred bad guys swarming you, like a bunch of killiks trying to take down a krayt dragon? I want to think you went down swinging and took most of them with you._

 _But other times I wonder if you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some external bulkhead ripped open next to you. Hard Vacuum 1, Empire's Wrath 0. Maybe it was a reactor-core breach, and you never even had time to feel the heat ?_

 _They say powerful Sith can come back from the dead and appear to the people they had strong connections to when they were alive. Will I wake up some day and see you ? Will you finally tell me what happened? Will I know if you had time to think about me before you died ?_

I promise you Vette, I won't stop until I see you again. I will tear down the Eternal Empire by myself if that's what it takes to once again see you my beloved.

Forever and Always

Toryal


	2. Chapter 2

((Decided to write a short sequel to the first chapter. I'm a sucker for love xD))

" _I love you, Tor,"_ Vette's voice echoed quietly through the former Emperors Wrath mind as he slowly opened his eyes. He sighed heavily. _Another dream. I'll never stop dreaming of her,_ Toryal thought sadly as he saw that unsurprisingly he was alone on the _Fury_ once again. He had only managed to find one former member of his crew and Pierce was busy training some of the newer recruits back at the base.

 _I don't see why I have to be the one to travel to Nar Shaddaa. Still, it appears that a commander's work is never done._ Toryal thought to himself as he headed for the cockpit and checked and saw that nothing much had changed. The autopilot was still set for Nar Shaddaa, the proximity sensors were all clear and the ship hadn't received any transmissions. Toryal sat down in the pilot's chair and sighed as he watched the lines of stars go by as the _Fury_ tore through hyperspace. Like many of the other things aboard the ship, it reminded him of Vette.

Toryal sighed heavily as he sat in the pilot's chair and a bitter smile formed on his face. For all he knew, Vette could have died years ago. Or she could have thought him dead and found someone else. _"The force is my servant,"_ was something that Lana Beniko often said and Toryal couldn't help but disagree. To him, the force was like an ocean brimming with power that flowed through the universe but it was no one's servant, it was never subjugated. The force was everywhere and on more than one occasion, Toryal suspected that it had a life of it's own on some level.

A console began beeping, alerting him that the _Fur_ y was approaching Nar Shaddaa. Toryal clipped his lightsaber to his belt and entered a set of coordinates that would taking him to one of the lesser known landing pads. As the _Fury_ easily navigated between the massive buildings that littered Nar Shaddaa Toryal couldn't help but notice battle damage on many of the buildings. It looked as if the Eternal Empire hadn't managed to take Nar Shaddaa without a fight.

Toryal looked down as a beeping console caught his attention and saw coordinates and a short message appeared on another console. _"Emergency transmission detected. Location: Upper Industrial Sector. Emergency signal has been recorded."_

The former Emperor's Wrath looked down at the console and hit a series of buttons and a small hologram appeared on the control console. A Trandoshan wearing what appeared to be battered Mandalorian armor wielding a massive blaster rifle appeared in the hologram as blaster bolts streaked by it.

" _\- Ambushed by Skytroopers! All remaining resistance forces regroup and take what you can!"_ Toryal sighed heavily as the Trandoshan took two blaster hits to the arm and went down with a snarl. Toryal was about to shut down the transmission when sudden movement caught his eye. His eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped.

"Jaesa?" He whispered in shock as he watched his former apprentice deflect blaster bolts with her double bladed lightsaber in the hologram. _"Fall back!"_ The holographic Jaesa called urgently as she continued deflecting blaster bolts. The hologram ended abruptly.

 _No. No one dies. None of my friends die._ Toryal thought to himself as the _Fury_ abruptly turned to the left as Toryal entered a new set of coordinates and the sleek vessel tore across the Nar Shaddaa airways. After a few moments Toryal could see flashes of light created by the distinctive weapons used by the Skytroopers of the Eternal Empire. He activated the external communications system and spoke three simple words that seemed to silence the sounds of battle below for a moment. Both resistance fighters and Skytroopers looked up for a moment at the hovering vessel.

"No one dies."

Toryal used the controls and the loading ramp opened as the hulking Zabrak set the _Fury_ to land automatically after five minutes. A moment later, Toryal launched himself off the loading ramp and after using the force to cushion his impact ignited both of his lightsaber and smiled darkly at the Skytroopers as they tried to cross-reference his identity from their databanks. "Should have hit me when you had the chance." Toryal snarled as his lightsaber took down four of the droid troopers before they could move. The rest of the Skytroopers began to open up on him, many of the bolts were deflected as Toryal's twin lightsabers either sent them back at the ones who had fired them or sliced through them. After a few moments, Toryal stood alone among the shattered remains of the droid troops. He sensed the presence of his former apprentice behind him and he deactivated both his lightsabers and clipped them to his belt before turning and smiling at her.

"Jaesa. Good to see you again." His smile faded a moment later as he saw the look on his former apprentice's face. "What's wrong?"

Jaesa shook her head. "They took her." She said quietly. "That was the reason we were ambushed."

"Who was taken?" Toryal asked softly.

Jaesa sighed heavily and deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.

"They took Vette." She said quietly. "Broonmark, Vette and I have been fighting the Eternal Empire where and whenever we can. We've been on Nar Shaddaa for around five months now. We received a tip that the Eternal Empire was developing a new form of Skytrooper here around three days ago. We attacked the targeted site two hours ago and were ambushed. We had just received word that our main base was hit by some sort of Force-Wielder when Karsok sent out the distress signal." Jaesa motioned to the Trandoshan that he had seen in the transmission who was being carried away by two large Weequay, both of whom seemed to be injured but were able to walk."

"Where did they take her?" Toryal asked softly. Jaesa looked at him with an odd expression. She had never heard this type of tone from him before. "We think whoever took Vette was heading for the Lower Industrial Sector. We know they've been working on some sort of project down there but we've never been able to get close enough to see it. Master, what do you intend to do?"

"They knew Vette was my wife" Toryal muttered to himself as he headed towards the _Fury_ as it landed down on a clear stretch of railway. "I have enough room to take you and the others to our current base of operations but I have to make a stop first. Gather Broonmark and the others if they wish to join the Alliance and have them meet up with me in the Duros Sector."

"Where are you going, Master?"

Toryal didn't look back. "I refuse to let them hurt Vette." He said in a cold voice as he ran up the ramp of the _Fury_ and a few moments later it rose up into the air.

 _Peace is a lie. There is only passion._ Toryal thought to himself as the _Fury_ navigated the narrow corridors of the Lower Industrial Sector. _Through passion I gain strength._ Toryal continued navigating the _Fury_ as a small beeping sound came from the communications console. The signal had no recognizable ID signature. Toryal activated the console and narrowed his eyes as he saw a man wearing the armor of a Zakuul Knight without the helmet. The man's eyes were blue but there was no warmth in them.

" _Outlander. By now you know that we hold the life of your wife in our hands. You will land at the following coordinates and surrender yourself to the Skytroopers waiting at the landing field. Failure to comply will result in her death."_

 _Through Strength I gain power._

"You have made a very grave mistake." Toryal said quietly to the Zakuul Knight. "There is a reason I was known as the Emperor's Wrath."

" _If you are truly so power, then how did you end up failing to save the Sith Empire? How did you let your wife be captured?"_

 _Through power I gain Victory._

Toryal's eyes narrowed. "You should have left Vette out of this. I swore to tear down the walls of Zakuul itself to see her again if need be." Toryal smiled darkly as he leaned towards the hologram and he could have sworn he saw the figure on the other end flinch. "You have unleashed a force far beyond what you are capable of confronting." He said quietly as he armed the _Fury's_ laser cannons as he homed in on the signal.

 _Through Victory, my chains are broken, the force shall free me_

Toryal smiled again at the look of panic on the knight's face after a moment as a crash was heard on the hologram as the _Fury's_ laser cannons strafed and a portion of the ceiling on the corner of the building collapsed. Toryal grabbed both of his lightsabers and positioned himself on the ramp before launching himself through the opening. He saw the look of utter shock on the Knight's face as Toryal's twin lightsabers formed a wall that deflected blaster bolts back towards the droids that had fired them and cut through Skytroopers three at a time.

"Regroup and Return fire!" The Knight shouted urgently. His eyes widened after a moment as he realized that Toryal had just destroyed the last Skytrooper just as the words came out of his mouth. The knight narrowed his eyes and smiled darkly as a blue saber-staff ignited.

"You caught us by surprise, I'll give you that. But let's see what you can do against someone who has killed both Sith and Jedi before."

The words had barely left his mouth before the saber-staff was ripped from the Knight's grasp and it seemed to twist in the air for a moment before it seemed to collapse it on itself. Toryal lowered his hand and smiled at the expression on the Zakuul knight's face. "I have shown you what I am capable of." The smile faded. "Now. Where is Vette? And if you try to run I'll crush your legs."

"Toryal!" Vette's voice echoed through the ruined building and Toryal turned and saw her tied against the wall and Toryal's blood boiled as he saw that her face was bruised and dried blood caked the right side of her face. Behind him, he could feel the Zakuul Knight quickly gathering the force around him, possibly hoping to kill Toryal before he could turn around.

The Knight didn't get that chance.

Toryal simply raised his hand and the Knight began to float up into the air and the enraged former Emperor's Wrath slowly clenched his fist until the Zakuul Knight couldn't move. "What did you do to my wife?" He asked softly as the Knight tried to suck down a mouthful of air as Toryal relaxed his grip enough for the Knight to speak. "We received o-orders to take her! Knights obey orders!" He gasped and Toryal smiled darkly. "I feel like I should kill you...but I will let the woman you tortured choose your fate."

Toryal made a motion with his free hand and the metal bindings holding Vette clicked and opened seemingly of their own accord. Vette slowly walked towards Toryal and when she finally reached him, she hesitantly placed her blue hand against his cheek as if to see if he was real. Toryal saw the tears forming in her eyes as his own eyes filled with tears.

"I thought you were dead." Vette whispered hoarsely. "I thought you died aboard Darth Marr's flagship. I saw it explode and I just couldn't stop crying for days. But...you found me." A wide smile appeared on Vette's face. "I missed you so much!" Her voice rose slightly as she threw herself around Toryal and softly pressed her lips against his. Toryal returned the kiss as he wrapped his free arm around her. "I would have torn the galaxy apart to find you." He whispered as tears of joy fell from his eyes. "I would have torn down Zakuul itself. I love you, Vette and nothing will ever change that."

Vette pulled away from Toryal and looked at the floating Zakuul Knight behind her. Toryal smiled slightly. "Her hurt you, Vette. I leave his fate in your hands." The Knight seemed to be staring at Vette with a pleading look in his eyes. Vette smiled wickedly. "Tie him up where I was. From what I've heard, the Knights of Zakuul don't tolerate failure. If he does end up getting away, I'm sure his commander will end up doing your job for you."

"No! They'll kill me!"

"Not my problem. I saw what you did to Vette and I have no doubt that you would have killed me had I surrendered myself." 

Toryal continued smiling as he grabbed the knight and placed him in the same bonds that had held Vette only minutes before and stared down at him. "If you do escape, you'll spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder. I suggest that should you escape, you better start running."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sith Interceptor Fury**

 **Hyperspace**

"I still can't believe you had me leave him in his underwear." Toryal couldn't help but grin wickedly as he thought of Vette's final request before leaving Nar Shaddaa. The first thing Toryal had done upon reaching the _Fury_ was making sure Vette was free of broken bones or anything else that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. After finding that all was well with her, they had gone to his personal quarters aboard the _Fury_ and had sat down on the bed. Vette couldn't help but smile at what the Knight of Zakuul was going to have to explain to his fellow knights when they found him.

"What can I say? I choose not to get mad, I choose to get even." She smirked. The smirk vanished a moment later as she looked around the room and saw that the holo-image of Toryal and herself still stood overlooking the bed. "I...I'm just curious...in the time since you escaped carbonite...did you ever...?"

Toryal shook his head. "Never. I would never choose to be with anyone but you, Vette. I made a promise to you at our wedding and I will always honor it." Toryal couldn't help but smirk slightly at the look on Vette's face. Her smile seemed to brighten the room by itself. "I wish it was just the two of us...I'm glad you got Jaesa and Broonmark and the others off Nar Shaddaa but still, I wish it was just the two of us."

Toryal smiled gently. "I promise. Once we manage to get some time to ourselves and don't have to worry about the Eternal Empire hunting us down, I'll take you wherever you want to go." Vette fought back a tear. "I...It's just so amazing to see you alive. I'm still having trouble believing it. A part of me still thinks I'm dreaming and I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone."

Toryal softly kissed the top of her head. "I promise you, Vette. I'll never leave you again." Vette smiled again and pressed her head against Toryal's shoulders. "I'm going to hold you to that. " She whispered softly as the _Fury_ continued on it's way through Hyperspace.

What seemed like hours passed in only a few moments as Toryal looked at her and smiled slightly. "So...when we reach Odessen, what's the first thing you want to do?" He asked in a teasing tone. Vette looked up at him and smirked. "First thing's first: We have _a lot_ of time to make up for. I'd like to see this base of yours and then I'd like to see your quarters."

Toryal couldn't help but smirk. "Don't you mean, _our_ quarters? I don't plan on letting you out of my sight for the time being. I finally have you in my life again and I want to spend as much time as I can with you."

Vette couldn't help but laugh. "There has to be something I can do to help around the base. I don't just want to be a pretty face, I want to help out."

A sudden thought came to Toryal's mind and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Oh...I can think of something you can help with."

 **Odessen Base**

 **Underworld Logistics**

"So...you actually served with Nok Drayen? _And_ you managed to steal the Star of Ryloth? Not gonna lie, I'm impressed." Hylo Visz said with a smirk. "Do you still have any contacts out in the underworld? Anything that can help us out?"

Vette leaned against the wall and looked over at Toryal and then back at Hylo. "You could say that. I still know a few people from Nok's crew, and I worked with a few others who I'm pretty sure hate the Eternal Empire as the rest of us do."

"Think you can get in contact with them? Pay's good and you get a lot of job satisfaction by screwing over the Eternal Empire. Not gonna lie, it is a bit risky though. Especially with all the Skytroopers that keep trying to kill us."

"Funny you should say that." Vette said with a smile. "A risky job once got me imprisoned on Korriban. That's where I met my husband over here." Toryal waved somewhat sheepishly.

"Well, If you're good enough for the commander and you survived working with Nok, you've got skills. And we can use people who have skills. Welcome to Underworld Logistics. Feel free to grab a drink and plan a heist." Hylo said with a grin as Vette turned to look at Toryal who motioned her towards the assorted smugglers and mercenaries. "Welcome to the family, Vette. If you need anything let Hylo and the others know. Vette nodded with a smile before turning back and kissing Toryal softly on the lips. "I'll see you later. I already have a few ideas on what I can do to help out."

Vette walked towards Hylo and smiled brightly. "So...I think I have an idea on what I can to help out. Have you ever been to Ord Mantell? I heard that the Hutt Cartel has stashed a large amount of..." Vette's voice trailed off as she and Hylo's voices were lost among the chatter of the other voices.


	4. Chapter 4

**Two months Later**

" _Excuse me for bothering you, Commander, but it looks like we have an incoming vessel."_

Lana Beniko's familiar voice cut through the fog of sleep that had overtaken Toryal's mind and he inadvertently let a yawn escape as he looked out the window of his quarters and noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise on Odessan and the view was magnificent. Not quite as magnificent as the sleeping form of Vette next to him but it was close.

Vette let a soft sigh escape her lips as she felt the comforting warmth of Toryal move away from her and she muttered something under her breath about disabling the comn system. Toryal simply smiled. "My apologies, Vette, I'm sure if you want to sleep in I could come up with some sort of excuse for Hylo."

"No..." Vette muttered as she rose to her feet and began grabbing the items of clothing that were on the ground. "Pretty sure that she'd know. She always seems to know." Vette added with a smirk as she remembered the last time her husband had tried to give her the day off by talking to Hylo. It hadn't ended well for either party.

" _Commander?"_

"I'm on my way, Lana." Toryal answered on his communicator as he pulled his armor on. He softly kissed Vette on the top of her head before smiling down at her. "I'll have to see if Hylo can smuggle in some Dantooine fire-wine. It's been too long since you and I have been able to enjoy a glass. This time we'll keep it away from HK-55"

Vette smiled sheepishly. She had won a bottle of fire-wine a month back in a card game against Gault only to lose it in another card game with HK-55. "How was I supposed to know he could see in the infrared spectrum? I still can't figure out what he wanted it for, or where he learned how to play cards." Toryal simply smirked. "Some questions are better left unanswered." He answered with a smile.

Vette was about to answer when Lana's voice came from the communicator once again. _"Commander, we have a visitor."_ Lana's voice sounded ..off, it was filled with uncertainty Toryal looked at Vette and shrugged slightly. "What's going on?" He asked carefully.

" _Are you familiar with a Darth Tormen?"_ Lana asked in a worried tone. Toryal knew the name from the days before the Eternal Empire. A Sith that was considered brutal even by other members of the Sith Empire. Supposedly he had died in a space battle above Corellia. "Not very. I do know he died in a space battle above Corellia. Wasn't exactly popular with the Dark Council."

" _A Bounty Hunter just landed. He wishes to speak to you. He claims that during the war he went by the code-name "Scree"._

Toryal straightened and his eyes narrowed.

" _Commander?"_

"Tell him I'll be right up. Keep an eye on him."

"What do you mean he wasn't popular with the Dark Council?" Vette asked as she grabbed one of her twin blasters and placed it in her holster. Toryal turned to look at his wife and sighed heavily. "He was vicious and brutal. Even by the standards of the Sith. His troops were often ordered to massacre civilians and military forces alike. He came up with a plan to kill the Chancellor of the Republic but he ended up being killed by a bounty hunter he had hired. The bounty hunter who just landed here actually."

"And the Dark Council let the guy live? They didn't try to hunt him down?" Vette couldn't keep the astonishment out of her voice. Toryal smiled slightly. "Like I said: he wasn't popular with the Dark Council."

Vette shook her head as she tried to clear her head. "And a _Bounty Hunter_ managed to take Tormen down? I would have thought that the Jedi would have made it a priority to take him out." Toryal raised an eyebrow. "They tried, believe me. He fought against a room of Knights and Masters back on Corellia and still came out on top. A lot of people think he died in a space battle but Scree took him on in personal combat about his flagship and managed to kill him."

"Why?"

Toryal gathered the last of his armor and grabbed his lightsaber and hooked it to his belt. "I've never met Scree personally but I met others who knew of him back during the war between the Republic and the Empire. He's not your typical bounty hunter. He has a sense of honor and morals. He prefers to take his bounties alive. In fact, a good portion of his crew is working with us. Gault, Skadge, Blizz and Torian were all members of his crew at one point. I was talking to Torian a while back and he had nothing but respect for Scree.

"So what's Scree doing here now? Do you think he might want to take his crew back?"

Toryal shook his head as he clipped his second lightsaber to his belt. "I don't think so. He may be a Bounty Hunter but like I said, I heard he's a man of honor. I don't think he's going to force his crew to leave with him. Maybe he's planning on joining up."

"Let's just hope he isn't here to start trouble." Vette sighed heavily."For all we know, the Eternal Empire could have put a price on your head and I'm pretty sure they have the funds and muscle to back it up."

 **War Room**

Toryal took note that many of his allies in the War room seemed to be on edge. He didn't blame them. Scree cut an imposing figure. Both of his blasters were in their holsters but even without them in his hands, he still stood at an intimidating 6'4 and was wearing heavily modified Mandalorian armor with a flamethrower built into the left arm. Toryal looked towards his allies and did his best to smile a reassuring smile. "Relax, everyone. If he wanted us dead he would have tried to soften us up from orbit."

Scree nodded in agreement. The helmet he was wearing did distort his voice as he finally spoke up. "I have no hostile intentions towards any of you. In fact, I've been a fan of your commander's work as he's fought against Arcann. I was in the same business until recently."

Toryal leaned against the operation's table and stared at Scree for a moment. "You said 'until recently', what's changed?"

Scree paused for a moment and sighed heavily. Both of his hands slowly grasped his helmet and with a soft _hiss_ of escaping air, Scree pulled his helmet off to reveal a battle-scarred blue face. Toryal wasn't surprised that Scree was apparently a chiss, but he was slightly surprised by how young he seemed to be. "I became too big a target to ignore. I was hired to take down a factory producing Skytroopers in the Outer Rim by what I thought was a high ranking republic general." Scree turned his face to reveal the left side of his face was badly burned. "Turned out it was a trap set by Arcann. I was ambushed the second I landed."

"What happened?"

Scree's red eyes closed for a moment. "Apparently my reputation preceded me. I was met by almost half a dozen knights of Zakuul and nearly twenty sky-troopers." Scree shook his head. "They told me to surrender for crimes against Zakuul and Emperor Arcann." The Chiss smiled a savage smile. "Zakuul is now down four Knights and twenty Sky-troopers...but they managed to get away with something I can't live without."

"What did they take?"

Scree sighed heavily.

"They took my wife."


	5. Chapter 5

Scree sighed heavily as he sat down in the cantina with another bottle of cheap Nar Shaddaa whiskey. He had been on Odessa for a week with no luck in trying to track down Mako, in that time, he had talked with a number of his old crew, caught up on what they had been up to since the crew had disbanded at the beginning of the Eternal Empire's campaign and had had a few drinks. Actually, in Scree's case it was far more than a few drinks. His red eyes were half-closed as he tried to stay focused. There were seven empty bottles of the Nar Shaddaa beverage on the floor next to him.

 _It's been nearly half a year since they took you Mako. I should have came to the Alliance commander earlier. I was an idiot, thinking I could find you on my own. No ransom...no instructions...I don't even know if your alive._

Scree looked up from the bottle as he heard the sound of the bottles on the floor shifting as someone sat down across from him. In his drunken state he had trouble recognizing the two blue Twi'leks that were fading in and out of focus. After a moment he was able to place her as the Alliance Commander's wife as the two images finally seemed to shift into one. "So...your the guy who took down Darth Tormen, gotta say, I'm not that impressed."

Scree looked up and tried his best to look intimidating only to fail. "Tormen was easy. Especially when I had Mako watching my back. And I don't care if your impressed or not." Vette shook her head. "It's only been a week. I'm surprised you gave up so soon."

Scree staggered to his feet only to fall back onto his chair. "Half a year," he growled at the Twi'lek. "Half a year I searched known space for her and I couldn't find her. All my underworld contacts and I couldn't find her. I went to Mandalore himself before he bought it and even with all his connections he couldn't find her. What makes you think you'll have any luck?"

Vette shook her head. Her voice was one that was filled with anger. "You think you're the only one who's going through this?" She asked in a deadly calm voice. "Five years. Five years I thought my husband was dead. I was sure he was dead but he proved me wrong." Vette reached over and slapped Scree across the face. The chiss stared at Vette in astonishment. The Twi'lek rose to her feet as her voice rose.

"What do you think your wife would think of you if she saw you like this?! Drunk and sulking in some dark corner reeking of cheap whiskey?!" Vette shook her head. "You took down Darth Tormen, you made yourself enough of a threat to the Eternal Empire that they actually made you a priority target. Look at yourself now: Drunk and sulking." Vette shook her head again. "I don't pretend to know what kind of man you are, but from what I've heard you were someone who's name could strike fear into anyone. You're supposed to be a man of honor." Vette leaned forward and was nose to nose with Scree.

"Be that guy again."

Vette turned and walked away from the drunken former bounty hunter and Scree heard the door slam shut behind her. Scree was torn between anger and shock with the two emotions being replaced with shame.

 _Mako married the man who took down Darth Tormen, the man who helped her avenge Braden and Jory. She married the Champion of the Great Hunt._ The Chiss thought to himself as he looked at the bottle in front of him. He began to shake with anger the longer he looked at the bottle. With a shout of anger, he launched the bottle against the wall and rose to his feet as the bottle shattered against the wall.

 _No more_

 **The Next Morning**

Toryal stared down at the intelligence reports coming in but his mind wasn't really there at the moment. He was thinking of what Vette had told him. Of how she had found Scree in the cantina, drunk and full of self-pity. This war has taken a great deal from everyone...but he had thought Scree was made of stronger stuff.

 _That could have been me. If I had lost Vette that could be me sitting drunk in the cantina._ The thought kept repeating in his head. He snapped back to reality as Lana approached him with a data pad. "Commander, I have good news: One of our spies claims to have information that would be of use to Scree."

Toryal barely looked up. "I doubt Scree is in any position to do anything. The last time anyone saw him he was heading back to his ship with a bottle of cheap whiskey." After a moment he looked up. "Do we have a location?"

"Yes Commander. It appears that the Eternal Empire has a facility on Illum that we apparently didn't know about. It appears to be some sort of cross between a prison and a research facility. That's all we were able to get before the spy had to flee."We need to assemble a strike team." Toryal responded with a grim frown. "I've seen first-hand what the Eternal Empire can do, We're not leaving anyone there to be experimented on."

Toryal was so focused on the details of the mission that were forming in his head that he didn't sense the still unfamiliar presence that had arrived a week ago.

"Commander."

Toryal was surprised that he hadn't sensed Scree's presence but he turned around and saw that the Bounty Hunter was dressed in full combat armor and both of his blasters were in their holsters. "I heard enough of the conversation. Illum was a planet I didn't think of checking. In retrospect, that wasn't my smartest choice."

Toryal said nothing but stared at the armored figure as he pulled his helmet off to reveal the eyes that had once been filled with despair were now filled with determination. Even as he reached out with the force to analyze him, Toryal could sense the change that had overtaken him, gone was the sense of hopelessness, gone was the aura of defeat that had surrounded Scree over the past few days. In it's place was a sense of determination that rivaled that of Toryal when he had searched the Galaxy for Vette.

Toryal admired that. It was obvious to Toryal that Scree loved his wife as much as Toryal loved Vette. Toryal extended his hand and the armored Chiss gripped it with a small smile. Toryal couldn't help but wonder what had brought about this change.

"Your wife had a talk with me last night in the cantina." Scree said in answer to the unspoken question. "Not that many people that have smacked me across the face have gotten away with it but in this case I appreciated it. Got me thinking and made me realize that I wasn't the man Mako married. If she had seen me like that, I have a feeling she would have smacked me even harder than Vette did. First thing I did after that was grab a few whiskey bottles and had a little target practice in the cargo hold. I may be hungover as all hell but I'm ready when you are commander."

Toryal simply grinned.

"Welcome to the Alliance."


End file.
